Lessons from the stylish: Charlotte Tilbury

Charlotte Tilbury with her new eponymous line, in her studio in North London Photo: CLARA MOLDEN

Charlotte Tilbury - flame-haired master of the smoky eye, creator of countless
Vogue
cover looks, and Kate Moss's best mate - is searching my face with the fervour of an iris-recognition scanner at Heathrow.

"Oh my GOD I am DESPERATE to put make-up on you!" she shouts. "You've got great eyes - they're hazel but I could make them look really green! Your eyes could morph!" And she's off, grabbing an eye palette from the stack of products in front of us and chatterboxing away about colour combinations.

In her 20 years as a make-up artist, Tilbury has made her name transforming women into unreserved glamazons. She's the magician who gives Mossy her trademark feline eye and nude lip, Adele her peachy sheen, J-Lo her A-list goddess glow. Now, keen to impart her wisdom to the rest of us, she's bringing out her own range of cosmetics - and I'm first in the firing line.

"Fifty per cent of women in this country don't engage with make-up, and that is a huge disaster," Tilbury says, looking flummoxed as she covers my hand in smudges of lipstick. "Women are not using that secret weapon to make themselves look gorgeous and feel better. I think lots of them are scared of looking stupid, they don't know which colours to match or how much to put on, but beauty is not this exclusive club shrouded in secrecy - everyone can look beautiful!"

Tilbury, 40, is wonderfully, unashamedly high-maintenance. Feminist fatwas about narcissism don't wash with her. So wedded is Tilbury to her slap that she doesn't even take it off at night. "I take my skin off but I don't take my eyes off," she declares. Does she not wake up with panda eyes? "No, it's just a little bit rock 'n' roll-looking."

But surely there must be days when she can't be bothered with the faff of it all? "That is never an option. It's like, why would I not look fabulous? People can criticise me for it but it's the goddamn truth! I look much better with make-up on and it makes me feel good."

Tilbury grew up in Ibiza, the daughter of a painter father and a location scout mother. Her childhood sounds bohemian - full of beach parties with the Rolling Stones and Freddie Mercury - but it wasn't until she enrolled at boarding school in England that she became educated in the transformative powers of make-up.

She came back to Ibiza after her first term, aged 13, sporting mascara, eyeliner and lip gloss. "Everyone, from seven-year-olds to 70-year-olds, reacted to me in a totally different way," she says. "They all said, 'Don't take offence but you're suddenly so attractive!'

"At first I was a bit annoyed. But then I realised that it was actually quite good. I became more popular overnight." She hasn't been seen without make-up since.

Her path in life was set when she met the make-up artist Mary Greenwell. "I knew I was artistic and good with colour, obsessed by fashion, obsessed with beauty, and it was such an epiphany," she says. At 18 she signed up for a course at the Glauca Rossi School of Make-up in London, and then went on to assist Greenwell.

Since then she has become a fixture on the show circuit, directing make-up for Tom Ford, Stella McCartney and Burberry, and creating looks for the covers of
Vanity Fair
,
Harper's Bazaar
and three
Vogue
s - American, British and French - in one year.

Her new eponymous line is the fruit of her life's work. "I saw a gap in the market for make-up that was foolproof: easy to apply but aspirational at the same time."

All the products in her 100-piece range have been thought through, from the "tear-proof" eye colours that stay put for 12 hours, to the superfine brush heads (inspired by a brush stolen from her father's studio). Crucially, all have corresponding videos on her
website
to offer guidance on their application.

Tilbury is a compelling proponent for her métier: she looks 10 years younger than her age, having never touched injectables. Today she's wearing a clingy Pucci dress that shows off her cleavage, antique-looking Dolce & Gabbana earrings and a favourite pair of super-high Prada platforms.

She has 350 pairs of heels in her Notting Hill home, and only one set of flats - a pair of unused trainers. There are heels for all occasions: wedge-heeled Christian Louboutin espadrilles for the beach, heeled wellington boots for the country, and even heeled hiking boots "which came in handy when I was on location in Peru".

Charlotte Tilbury in signature black at her Selfridges make-up event in June; in an embellished green dress at a Louis Vuitton party last year; and in black again at an exhibition opening in July. Photos: REX

IN PICS: Charlotte Tilbury's best looks

Colour creeps in during the summer months - "I will wear black, black, black and then just switch to colour" - when she favours dresses by Roberto Cavalli. She likes Zara for a "great little jacket - just as good as Balenciaga" - and Topshop for jeans; and heads to Tom Ford for pencil skirts and Mairead Lewin for vintage dresses from the Twenties and Thirties.

She insists she doesn't diet, and her assistant confirms that she eats unhealthy amounts of ice cream. "I go up and down half a stone depending on if I'm just being an absolute pig," she laughs, "but the thing is I love to eat! Pizza! Pasta! CHIPS!"

Her only form of exercise is dancing in heels and running for aeroplanes, with the exception of a month spent swimming every summer in Ibiza. "My arms are getting a bit saggy," she muses, "but doing exercise is so boring. High heels are my exercise. And they give you the
best
bum."

Botox, bags and blusher

Would you consider Botox?
I've never had it but I won't rule it out - probably one day I'll fancy a pump. My secret to young skin is staying out of the sun - I cover myself in Institut Esthederm sun cream, it's the best.

Handbag or hands-free?
I rotate bags but mainly use an Alaïa and a Balenciaga. My whole life is in the bag. All mymake-up - even if I'm popping back home, I'll do my make-up in the cab - and my phone, diary, hairbrush, scent.

Do you travel light?
I go to Ibiza every summer and take six suitcases. Two will be full of shoes, and four are full of clothes. I wear Alice Temperley kaftans because they're flattering, and some crazy bits of Roberto Cavalli.

What's the make-up item you are most evangelical about?
I literally cannot live without mascara. I used to apply five different mascaras at once to get the right look but now I've made my own I can just use one. We had a brush specially cut with a five star groove, a bit like a Christmas tree, so it deposits the bulk at the base of the lash and provides a big lift.

Most common make-up mistake?
So many women don't know where to put their blusher. They don't want to look like Aunt Sally with a ghastly rouge cheek. But it's so easy - just suck in your cheeks, swish down the cheekbone and pop at the end. And don't forget to blend.